Laser-Based ‘Radar’ Developed In Israel May Stop Smart Car Hacks

Harold Cunningham/Getty 10 Aug 2016

The Times of Israel reports: The auto industry is barreling headfirst toward a driverless future – and a cybersecurity nightmare, as Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek showed off for the second year in a row how easy it is to hack into a smart car.

If in last year’s exploit the pair of hackers showed off some elementary moves like remotely turning on the radio full-blast and running the air conditioner, this year they upped the stakes, disabling the parking brakes, applying the brakes while the car was driving at full speed, and disabling the steering wheel.

There’s no going back, according to Omer Keilaf, co-founder and CEO of Innoviz, a Kfar Saba startup that is developing solutions to prevent the brand of hacking that Miller and Valasek have demonstrated is possible.

“The car industry is gearing up towards a revolution by the introduction of autonomous vehicles. The ability to transform this vision into a reality depends on performance and cost. Current approaches compromise passenger safety by failing to include LiDAR sensors as part of the system, due to cost and performance limitations. Our groundbreaking technology will make our system accessible to mass market, positioning Innoviz as a leading force in the manifestation and acceleration of this revolution,” said Keilaf.